Small actions, huge impact. The St. Mary’s Church IMPACT team witnessed firsthand how their efforts touched the lives of the Abaco community. Read their moving stories and reflections from Harper, Sophia, and Callie.
Today was our last full day in Abaco. We have mixed emotions about going back to the states. We have all had such a great time here and would be okay with staying a little longer.
Today we went back to the worksites. The kids and grandmas went to Zhivargo’s, and the moms and Nate went to help with the other team’s houses. At Zhivargo’s we worked on a few small things, like building another planter box, doing paint touch ups, and building relationships with others from the island and each other. At the other two houses, the moms and Nate worked on dry wall, sheet rock, sanding, and painting. It was a full busy day there and they got a lot of quality work done.
After lunch we had the opportunity to pray over all the homes we worked on this week with their owners. It was very touching to see the joyful smiles on their faces. We had an especially good time at Zhivargo’s.
Earlier in the day, Will and Drew played football with Zhivargo’s son, ZJ. They all had a great time together and after we prayed over the home and the family, ZJ was gifted his own football. His appreciation really showed and you could tell how grateful he was for it. This reminded us yet again that the smallest actions can have a huge impact on others! Saying goodbye to the people and work we have done this week is hard, but the things we learned and the ways we have been impacted will last forever.
Tonight after dinner we had the privilege to share our impact stories. This is essentially a moment from the trip that impacted us, and how we will carry what we’ve learned in our hearts and actions. It was special to talk about it as a group and debrief our week together. Something we have learned is that other people’s perspectives are very valuable and we can learn so much from them. Hearing the stories of our team was a way to connect and talk about our trip for one of the last times here in Abaco. 🙁
Overall, it has been an amazing and influential week. The amount of blessings and lessons we have received this week were incredible, and we couldn’t have asked for a better time. Praise God for sending us here and we pray for the future teams, that they will have a great time being the hands and feet of Jesus, just like we were.
— Harper, Sophia, and Callie
